Get ready. Today, you’re in for a good ol’ fashioned food fight! Don’t pretend like you don’t love those.

Three similar items are going to face off to determine who the winner is. We all know that price comparisons are vital to a frugal food budget, so the winner will be determined by value.

This time we’re going to get downright Middle Eastern with Hummus.

Though hummus originates in the Middle East, it has recently made the long journey to American kitchens, and we’re all better for it. The hippies of the 60’s and 70’s (you know who you are!), were some of the first Americans to give it a go, but hummus has gone mainstream in the last 5 to 10 years.

It’s not just for vegans and vegetarians any more. Sales are growing exponentially with no signs of slowing down.

So, what is hummus? It’s remarkably simple. Hummus is pureed chickpeas with a few different spices and flavorings. The most basic varieties include garlic, lemon juice, and maybe some tahini. That’s about it.

Chickpeas (or Garbanzo Beans) are actually the most widely consumed legume in the world. Hummus can take credit for much of this, but chickpeas are also pretty great by themselves once soaked and cooked properly. My wife and I love them in salads. They’re a great source of protein and are very low in calories.

However, there’s one big problem. As much as I love hummus, it’s awfully expensive. Have you looked at the prices at your local deli recently? It’s enough to make you drop to your knees and cry. So, what we need is a no-nonsense price comparison. We need a food fight.

Here we go.

Talk about a big difference!

The first photo demonstrates Cedar’s Hummus, which was the least expensive hummus I could find at my local market ($2.50). The other brands were usually priced between $3 and $4.

The second is a super easy homemade version prepared by yours truly. You get more than 5 servings (1/4 cup per serving) for only a quarter! What other healthy snack boasts that kind of frugality?

The bottom line is this: We all know that homemade usually wins the price comparison over store-bought, no matter what the product. However, some foods barely win out and other foods simply blow away the competition. Hummus is one of the latter.

I simply can’t think of a plausible explanation why it costs so much in stores. It’s 95% pureed chickpeas. Do you know how cheap dried chickpeas are?!

The only reason I could come up with is that it’s still considered a specialty item. Even with it’s recent acceptance, hummus is still considered slightly exotic, and therefore, companies can get away with charging more for the mystery. I’m here to take the mystery out of it. It couldn’t be simpler or cheaper to make.

1. Combine all of the ingredients other than the water into a quality food processor or blender and let it do its thing.

2. Add some water 1/4 cup at a time and continue blending, scraping down the sides occasionally if needed. You can add more or less water than suggested, depending on your desired consistency.

3. Enjoy!

IMPORTANT NOTES:

To cook dried chickpeas, first soak them over night in cold water. Then, bring the soaked chickpeas to a boil in plenty of water and reduce the heat to a simmer for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours until tender. Leave the lid of the pot tilted slightly to allow some of the steam to escape. If you’d rather, you can cook them in a slow cooker instead.

If you’d rather just use canned chickpeas (already cooked), just realize that you’ll probably be paying more like $0.12 to $0.15 per serving instead.

The main thing missing from my recipe, that most commercial hummus has, is Tahini. It’s an oily paste made from sesame seeds.

I don’t think it’s necessary, but if you miss it, go ahead and add it in next time. You could also add olive oil if you’d like. Try 3 Tablespoon of oil and 1/4 cup+ water instead of 1/2 cup of water if you’d like a richer flavor. Either way, it will still be much cheaper than buying your hummus already prepared.

Another delicious option…swap the onion powder for 1 teaspoon cumin and 1/2 teaspoon chili powder for a more Southwestern flavor.

71 Comments

Great post! I love seeing articles that address issues of both health and finance. It is possible to eat healthy foods on a budget.

Hummus is a staple in my household, but I admit I’ve never made it from scratch. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to buy it really inexpensively (even free at times) by matching sales with coupons. So that is possible. And it freezes well so you can stock up when the price is right.

But I’m going to try making my own the next time. I have everything but the chickpeas, and we have a great bulk foods store here where it’s easy to buy just what you need for a recipe.

Thanks Susan. I actually just wrote an article on my blog about the myth of cheap foods having to be unhealthy. So, I’m totally with you. Give the homemade stuff a try. Like many of the other comments say, this one doesn’t include Tahini, but it’s very good and VERY inexpensive this way too.

I just made hummus last night and it was super easy and tasty. I made my own tahini with about $1 worth of sesame seeds I bought at my local bulk store and a bit of olive oil. I just lightly toasted the seeds in the oven and pureed them in my food processor. I had quite a bit left over for about two more batches of hummus.

Combine the water and lemon juice in one bowl, and the tahini and oil in another. Set aside about 12 of the whole chickpeas for a garnish.

Put the chickpeas, salt, garlic, cumin, and cayenne in a food processor and process for about 15 seconds. Scrap down the sides of the processor. Then add the lemon water mix through the feed tube with the processor running for about 1 minute. Scrap down the sides several times. Then add the oil and tahini, with the processor running, until the hummus is fluffy.

Put the hummus in a bowl, garnish with the cilantro and whole chickpeas, and drizzle with some olive oil if you want.

I make homemade hummus & homemade sesame tahini all the time. The least expensive tahini I’ve seen here is around$8-9 for a 16 oz jar at HyVee. I make homemade for <$1.99 for more than 16 oz. All the tahini is is roasted salted sesame seeds & olive oil. You can roast the sesame seeds yourself or buy them already roasted. I use 2 tablespoons store bought tahini in one batch of hummus, but only 1 tablespoon of the homemade in the hummus. (The homemade has a much stronger sesame taste!!)

Pour the sesame seeds & olive oil in food processor. Process on high speed until the paste is desired consistency. Drizzle in additional oil & process on high until desired consistency. I store in glass jar with screw on lid in refrigerator.

Thanks for the Sesame Tahini recipe. I have made hummus and just used tahini from a jar. One jar of tahini made a lot of batches of hummus for me, but making the tahini would be even better. I just had not thought of doing that part. Thanks!

You’re welcome!! You can try 1/2 or 1/4 batch to see if you like it. Just keep adding more oil until you have the desired tahini consistency. You may want to use 1/4-1/2 the amount of tahini you think you’ll want in the hummus, & taste before adding more. You cannot take out; but you can always add in more!! Make it how you like it if you’re the one eating it!!

Great post. I’ve been planning on making some from scratch for a while, so now I’m really inspired to get going. The store kind is not as good as the restaurant kind, and I’m hoping that homemade will taste as good or better than the restaurant kind.
I also appreciate the comments on how to make tahini. I finally found some in our store last week, but was shocked at the price and did not buy.

You know, I was aware homemade hummus was much cheaper than store bought, but as far as taste goes, the hummus I was buying (don’t know if it is proper decorum to mention the brand) was head and shoulders ahead of my homemade hummus in the taste department.

The store bough not only tasted better, but it was so much smoother and creamer. I think my hummus was bland compared to the store bought because my hummus did not have tahini paste. But tahini paste isn’t cheap either. I tried using peanut butter in place of the tahini paste and I sort of liked it but my family didn’t. The taste was still not as good as the store bought. For that reason I stopped making my own and spent the extra money for commercial hummus. I can get a big 30 oz container for 5.99 – or less with a coupon – at BJs.

But maybe I’ll try this recipe. I was using canned, not dried, chickpeas. Maybe that will make a difference.

Agreed! It needs tahini. We live near Indianapolis where there are quite a few International groceries. Thank goodness because we LOVE ethnic food and can now make Ethiopian food at home. I digress…
I can get good tahini pretty inexpensively. I think the stuff I have is actually imported from Lebanon. This is my favorite recipe.

I agree – hummus needs tahini. But, if you don’t have time to make it, look for it in a middle eastern grocery store. Around here, the same bottle (even the same brand) is about a quarter of the price that a regular store sells it for.

I keep my homemade hummus in the fridge for 5-6 days and then pitch any leftovers. I make traditional Middle Eastern hummus with tahini. Not sure if that would change if the tahini is left out. Better safe than sorry though!

Thanks so much for the basic recipe without tahini. I’m not a fan of tahini, but I love hummus. One thing I really like to add to mine are sundried red peppers. They provide a slight tang when combined with the lemon juice.

Girl, we need to talk about hummus. 🙂 I disagree with you on making hummus without tahini. Tahini is what makes it ‘hummus’, and not just ‘ground chickpea dip’. Having lived in the Middle East, I have a definite opinion on hummus. While tahini used to be hard to find, I now see it everywhere. I also notice that you used very little lemon juice. Lemon juice is what gives the hummus that edge of tartness. And ONLY 2 cloves of garlic?? For the small, single batch, should be 4-6 at least. Olive oil is optional?? no, I don’t think so!

You didn’t mention ‘peeling’ the garbanzos after they have been cooked (oh, btw, why not use a pressure cooker? well, I guess if you are only doing 3/4c. dry beans…). This is the step that holds me back from making hummus more often. I don’t like the texture of the skins in the finished product. My Lebanese friend that taught us to make hummus removed the skins. We salted the beans down & rubbed them between our hands, then under running water.

I drain them, then dump them onto a clean kitchen towel. Fold the towel over and roll it around a bit, rubbing the chickpeas together gently. Dump all the beans into a bowl, fill with water. Skins float to the top – remove with a slotted spoon, then drain the chickpeas again and proceed with your recipe. MUCH faster than any other way I’ve tried.

I’m a huge fan of hummus. A local independent vegetarian restaurant here has the best next to the authentic Lebanese restaurants. I use cumin in mine instead of onion powder. When I make mine at home I go heavy on the garlic (I use several cloves and crush with a garlic press). One thing I noticed you are missing is Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Hummus is definitely not hummus without olive oil otherwise it will be dry. I make mine not only for cost but it’s healthier because I know what goes into and I use only organic ingredients.

Chris, thanks for a great recipe with variations! After reading the post, I made hummus with some chickpeas that I froze a while back just for this purpose. It turned out really, really good! I did use some Tahini, mostly because I already had some in the pantry.

One thing I like about recipes like this is that you can customize them to your taste, so if you like more lemon juice or more or different spices you can easily add them in. I really appreciate that you mention this in your last 3 paragraphs.

We just made homemade hummus with frozen chick peas and even added some peas! SO GOOD! I used a little olive oil like suggested here & did not miss the tahini – my kids loved it too! I am going to try this recipe too =-)

You can cook dried beans in the crock pot too. I throw a batch in and let it go all night while I sleep. It takes about 10 minutes of effort, and that includes bagging them in the morning to put in the freezer.
To cook them in the crock pot add one pound of beans and six cups of water. It is also a good idea to add a sprinkle of baking soda, about 1/8 of a teaspoon in case you have hard water which prevents the beans from softening. The baking soda will ensure they soften. We have very hard water but have never had a problem when using a little baking soda. One pound of beans makes about the same as three cans.
I can fit two pounds of beans in my regular size slow cooker, so I always double up.

Enjoyed reading all the comments. I have been making hummus for years. To save money, I buy dried chick peas in bulk, cook them in bulk, and then freeze them in 2-4 cup portions. I also buy tahini in bulk from Amazon, and can usually split the order with a friend. Happy hummus making…definitely don’t leave out the tahini or olive oil.

Thanks for the recipe Chris! It seems like there are some serious authentic hummus-lovers here! Hope all the “oh that’s not REAL hummus” comments don’t deter you from writing a guest post at another time. I for one really appreciated your post even though I too prefer tahini. I think most people were missing the point. That you can make a healthy snack (call it hummus or don’t) for an inexpensive price!

I agree! Whether it is true “hummus” or not, some people have sesame allergies or just do not care for the taste of tahini. It’s always good to have an alternative version! Thanks Chris for your hard work!

Thanks Joy. No, I don’t mind the comments. They made a good point. I should have made more of an effort to comment about what true “hummus” is and how this is different. A good thing to remember for next time I talk about my budget version of hummus…I mean chickpea spread 🙂

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